Can anyone share some information on Congestive

[Mz Georgia]

Heart Failure and ways to live with it? My mom was diagnosed with it a day ago and I was wondering if anyone out there is experiencing the same or have a loved one who has CHF.If you have any helpful information,please feel free to share it.Thank You in advance.Moore V,my mother was also prescribed water pills.Thank you for the info.Thank you southern_paramedic

[moore v]

Hi My mother has it also and she has had it for a long time and the main thing with her the doctor put her on water pills and she needs to take them everyday and if she does not then water get built up around her heart and then she goes in the hospital .But when take the water pill as it is given then she is fine it makes your legs and feet swell and hands she has also had to have stints put in but she is doing fine I just have to keep after her to take her water pill. I hope this can help you some.

[southern_paramedic]

They way congestive heart failure begins is usually after the heart has been damage in some sort of way and is no longer as an effective pump as it once was. What happens with CHF is that the heart is no longer pumping as it should so fluid backs up in the lower extremities and eventully the lungs. Make sure she takes her meds every day, and her doc should have told her all of this like watch salt intake, keep an eye on the ankles to watch for edema(swelling), that she can develop nocturnal (night time) postral (laying down) dyspnea (difficulty breathing). Now if the ankles start to swell call her docs office and ask them if she needs to come in (usually they will pass the buck and tell you to be on the safe side go to the ER if your concerned), but before you call the docs office do this, look at the edema and press you finger to her shin and see if it "pits" or your finger leaves an indentation. If it does then this is more serious then if it does not pit. If it does pit count how many seconds it takes for the "pit" to go away (if it takes longer than 10 seconds tell them she has "greater than 10 second PITTING EDEMA") because if she is not short of breath yet, she soon will be. At its worst CHFer's will have a "pink frothy sputum" which indicates her lungs are full of fluids and will be needing alot stronger and fast acting meds that are given on the ambulance or in the ER or sometimes in the doctors office. If she can not tell you her name and address in one breath then she is getting too short of breath and needs to be seen by a doctor, and if her breathing is bad enough call 911. Researching this is hard to do because all info is usually not in simple to understand terms but in medical jargon that requires a medical dictionary. hope this helps.

[ghost_of_larry_fine]

go to http://www.chfpatients.com, and you'll find lots of info and also other people dealing with the same problems. It is not a for-profit site. Good luck!